Billy Eichner says he did not cast Chris Evans in Bros to give ‘openly LGBT actors a chance’

Billy Eichner has said he could “easily” cast Chris Evans as his love interest in his gay rom-com, but decided against it for reasons of principle.

The 44-year-old comedian previously trumpeted the film before it came out for having an all-queer cast, even for the straight roles.

Since then, however, the film has been box office bombed, with one train of thought blaming the lack of A-list movie stars.

“We could have easily cast Chris Evans in the role of Luke McFarland,” Billy said at a New Yorker Festival panel. Deadline. “But we didn’t because it was important to us to give some openly LGBT actors a chance to star in a movie, even if they weren’t movie stars.”

All-queer cast: Billy Eichner (left) has said he could ‘easily cast’ Chris Evans (right) as his love interest in his gay rom-com — but decided not to for reasons of principle

Billy sat on the panel with Harvey Fierstein, the acclaimed actor and playwright of the Torch Song Trilogy who also appeared in Bros.

They candidly acknowledged the film’s disappointing performance at the box office, where its opening weekend was 40% below expectations.

Harvey focused on the “history lesson” publicity campaign for the film and the rousing tone of the marketing.

Bros has elsewhere been touted as the first gay Hollywood romcom from a major studio — despite coming out more than a quarter of a century after the 1996 classic The Birdcage starring Nathan Lane and Robin Williams.

Dynamic duo: Opposites draw comedy starring Billy as a bookish workaholic who runs a museum and finds himself falling for a jock-type played by Luke Macfarlane

History: Bros has been touted as a major studio’s first gay Hollywood rom-com—despite the 1996 classic The Birdcage starring Nathan Lane (left) and Robin Williams (right)

The opposites draw comedy stars Billy as a bookish workaholic who runs a museum and finds himself falling for a jock-type played by Luke Macfarlane.

Covering Variety in August Billy stated, “Hollywood took a century to make this movie. That’s not my fault – that’s Hollywood’s fault for taking so long.”

He also explained his decision to have an all-queer cast, saying the move stemmed from his frustration with how many meaty movie roles, including gay ones, had a habit of going to straight actors in the past.

“It’s not about saying that a straight actor should never play gay,” he said. “But we need a more level playing field. It’s about correcting a very extreme imbalance.’

Confidence: ‘We could have easily cast Chris Evans in the role of Luke McFarland,’ Billy said on a New Yorker Festival panel, per Deadline

Icon: Billy sat on the panel with Harvey Fierstein, the acclaimed actor and playwright of the Torch Song Trilogy who also appears in Bros.

Honest: Harvey offered his sizzling take on the film’s marketing campaign, which he summed up as, “Go to the movies or I’ll call you out!”

When the film bombed on its opening weekend, Billy started his Twitter account and posted a screed blaming heterosexuals.

“Even with rave reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore, etc., straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up to Bros. And that’s disappointing, but it is what it is,’ the Difficult People star wrote. “Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in.”

His pitch to ticket buyers was: ‘Anyone who IS NOT a homophobic lunatic should go to BROS tonight! You will love it! And it *is* special and uniquely powerful to see this particular story on the big screen, especially for queer people who don’t get this opportunity very often. I love this movie so much. GO BROS!!!’

Seen on-screen: Harvey, pictured in Bros., “chapped the whole idea of ​​releasing this movie with the idea of, ‘The very first gay movie ever! Starring a gay gay man!'”

While onstage at the New York Film Festival, Harvey gave his own scorching take on the marketing campaign without directly criticizing Billy.

He rejected the whole idea of ​​releasing this movie with the notion: “The very first gay movie! Starring a gay gay man! And written by a big gay man… but produced by heterosexuals!” I mean, “Is this a history lesson or a movie?”‘

Harvey argued: ‘I didn’t think it was very smart. Sometimes I think you have to let the public find you. Let them discover you, let them fall in love with you. Because the movie is too good.’

‘Just don’t show up’: When the film was bombed on its opening weekend, Billy started his Twitter account and posted a bar blaming heterosexuals

He praised Bros as “just very human” and wished that “the public could find it for themselves” rather than being subjected to a publicity pitch which he summarized as “go the f*** in the theater or I’ll call your names!” ‘

While Harvey blamed Universal for the film’s marketing failures, Billy defended the studio for how Bros.

He said Universal “couldn’t have been more supportive every step of the way. But it was also a new kind of movie for them. If Hollywood takes over a century to put out an R-rated gay rom-com and to do such a big release with a movie like this, there isn’t much of a blueprint to follow. .’

‘That’s Hollywood’s fault’: In August Covering Variety, Billy stated: ‘Hollywood took a century to make this movie’